SEASIDE, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay women's basketball team jumped out to an 18-point halftime lead on Tuesday evening and cruised to a 56-40 road victory over Cal State Monterey Bay.

The Pioneers, who entered the game ranked No. 4 in the nation in scoring defense at 53 points allowed per game, turned in another stifling performance. They held the Otters to just 17 points in the first half and 26.7 percent shooting for the game, while forcing 17 turnovers. 

East Bay improves to 16-4 for the season and 10-2 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association and stays in the hunt for the program's first CCAA championships. CSUMB drops to 7-12 overall and 3-9 in league play. The Pioneers have now won six straight over the Otters dating back to 2012.

"We were patient on offense and got some quality looks at the rim in the first half," said head coach Suzy Barcomb. "Individually, we had some solid performances tonight from Remy on the inside and Laci and Madi on the outside."

Junior Remy Puou got things going early, scoring East Bay's first two buckets and going 4-for-4 from the field for 10 points in the first half. She finished with a team-high 14 points to go along with four rebounds in just 20 minutes.

Already leading 14-9, the Pioneers opened the second quarter on a 13-0 run and never looked back from there. The Otters out-scored East Bay by one point in the second half, but they weren't able to put together a sustained run to threaten the Pioneer lead.

"The second half wasn't as efficient as I would have liked," Barcomb noted. "We didn't keep up our defensive intensity."

Senior Madison Craig scored in double figures for the third straight game, finishing with 13 points on 4-for-8 from the field and 4-for-5 from the free throw line. 

Fellow senior guard Laci Effenberger also had a big night, filling up the scoresheet with 10 points, three steals, and a team-high six assists. She went 2-for-3 from long distance, giving her 60 made three-pointers for the season. This figure leads the CCAA by a wide margin and puts Effenberger just two shy of the single-season school record.

Speaking of record books, senior Tori Breshers scored nine points and led all players with 11 rebounds and four blocks on Tuesday. Already the program's all-time blocks leader, Breshers moved into third place on the all-time rebounding list with 603 in her career. With nine regular season games left, she has scored 1,191 career points, putting her just 19 points shy of becoming the Pioneers' all-time leading scorer.

"With our third game in five days and another game on Thursday, we were focused on running an effective offense, rather than trying to run-and-gun," Barcomb added. "We wanted a half-court game tonight. And now we have to be prepared for another quick turnaround on Thursday."

As they find themselves in the midst of a tight race atop the CCAA standings, the Pioneers are also in perhaps the most difficult part of their schedule. On Thursday, Jan. 28, the squad returns home play to its fourth CCAA contest in seven days before hitting the road again for four straight tough games away from Pioneer Gym.